May 13, 2025 marked Innovation UBC’s 5th annual Investor Showcase at Robson Square with UBC research and impact on full display. Joined by over 300 members of our ecosystem, the Robson Square theatre was humming with anticipation and energy as we heard from 17 UBC ventures creating solutions to some of the most pressing problems we are facing today.
Creating connections that fuel impact
UBC has a track record of IP-based spin-outs and student-led teams moving research into the world through commercially viable solutions. Innovation UBC has a front row seat to UBC researcher’s game-changing discoveries, and the Investor Showcase connects our startup community with the broader investor ecosystem to fuel the next leg of their venture building journeys.
This year’s event was no different, as we heard from 17 UBC ventures ready-to-raise who represent a range of industries including nanotherapeutics and healthcare to biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The final line up was decided by our Evaluation Committee sponsored by Fasken, which featured Andrea Barrios, Senior Associate at Sandpiper Ventures, Irene Dorsman, CEO of Angel Forum and Geoff Pedlow, Partner, Emerging Tech and M&A at Fasken as well as Innovation UBC Entrepreneurs in Residence, Chang Han and Michele Wallcraft.
Insporos at the 2025 Investor Showcase
Show highlights
UVX at the 2025 Investor Showcase
The evening started with networking and venture booth displays, providing our community of investors, industry and champions with the opportunity to connect with founders directly in advance of their presentations. The night kicked off with opening remarks from Innovation UBC’s in-house MCs, Lead Entrepreneur in Residence Chang Han and Head of Marketing and Communications, Michelle Sklar. We were welcomed by Elder Ruth Alfred of Mamtagela, Kwaguitl, Ukrainian and Namgis ancestry, who performed a grounding ceremony and heard from Innovation UBC’s Associate Director, entrepreneurship@UBC, Dr. Sean Lumb, on the pivotal role early-stage venture creation has on our world and communities. Gold Sponsor Osler, represented by Managing Partner, Jacques Du Plessis, shared their contribution in furthering the ventures of tomorrow and the critical nature of supporting our nascent venture ecosystem.
Event MCs Chang Han and Michelle Sklar
After enriching opening remarks, CereCura Nanotherapeutics, represented by Dr. Louis-Phillip Bernier, kicked off the presentation portion of the agenda where we heard from all the teams in rapid 5-minute pitches. This year, our line up included three alumni we welcomed back to share ‘where they are now’ hearing from UVX led by Kunal Sethi, NanoZen led by Dr. Winnie Chu and Incisive Genetics led by Austin Hill. These additions added context and perspective to the overall journey ventures undergo from lab to market, demonstrating the impact early-stage ecosystem support has on helping fuel their journeys to see long term success and growth.
Binta at the 2025 Investor Showcase
Continuing the night’s momentum, we brought back our popular “Slido trivia” quizzing the theatre on fun facts shared by the teams. Such questions ranged from the common lab tools ventures have reinvented to isolate and image thousands of individual cells for high-resolution single-cell analysis (answer: ImageCyte - the microwell plate) to the second most extracted resource after water (answer: Carbonyx - silica). They were tough questions, but big stakes were involved as our winners - Bill Dall and Patrick Mann - each went home with tickets to Web Summit! Congratulations and well done Bill and Patrick.
UBC research at the centre of innovation
Bayes Studio at the 2025 Investor Showcase
UBC research underpins intellectual property that is transforming industries and improving how we live today. The curiosity baked into the academic environment creates a natural habitat for entrepreneurship to thrive, building a pipeline of IP-supported spin-offs and student-led teams through research commercialization and venture creation.
Innovation UBC is dedicated to fostering a unified ecosystem, advancing research collaboration, accelerating early-stage innovation and strengthening equitable partnerships, bridging the gap between research and impact and providing pathways for researchers to translate their knowledge into positive outcomes. It takes many hands to build a successful venture, and it is the combination of champions across the university and wider ecosystem that helps build our early-stage venture community:
Thank you to our community for your continued support of the groundbreaking innovation emerging from UBC, and for championing the incredible founders who are leading the charge. Congratulations to all of the teams who took the stage at the 2025 Investor Showcase!
Keep in touch
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We will see you next time!
Check out more photos from the event on our flickr
